The Sharpie Blog: Where we share the amazing stuff people do with Sharpie

Tag Archives: New media

Our intern, Caitlin ( @inktern), has continued to earn her Sharpie stripes, and after doing a great job on her first interview, she is taking another crack at the blog! Read on for Caitlin’s interview with Sharpie artist Nicole Bishopp.

It used to be difficult to get your art work out for the world to see. Art galleries, art shows or maybe the occasional print article was an artist’s best chance at gaining a following. The digital world and social media has changed all that. Today’s featured Sharpie artist shows us how.

Nicole Bishopp is a mom, an illustrator, a social media enthusiast and most importantly (at least in terms of this blog) a Sharpie Marker artist. She maintains a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a blog and a Tumblr all dedicated to her artwork. Nicole embraces the far reaching potential of social media outlets to showcase her art to the world. Constantly updating her Facebook page with new work for fans to comment on, her social outlets allow Nicole the opportunity to sell her artwork and create custom pieces for those interested.

Expressing her feelings through the intricate details of her work, she never sets out to draw something specific, it is common for her work to become mesmerizing and for different creatures to appear as her drawings advance. The thick, bold, expressive lines of her art are amazingly done with simply the classic black Sharpie Marker. The Sharpie family may have dozens of colors to choose from, but Nicole makes her statement with the original black Sharpie Fine Marker. Her work helps show what you can start with even the most basic Sharpie Marker.

Here is some more of what Nicole had to say:

How did you get started using Sharpie Markers: I have always loved drawing with Sharpie markers. I have tried every marker out there and Sharpie is the best because it has the crispest line and one marker will last me an entire drawing.

Where do your ideas for your pieces come from: Most of my ideas just happened. I draw and things appear in the drawings. I draw to express my feelings. I would have to say the tone of my work is mesmerizing, mind melting, a puzzle for the eyes, psychedelic maybe, in your face (bold), makes a statement.

How long does it take to do a piece: Surprisingly it only takes a good 4-5 hours to complete one drawing. Sometimes I will start a drawing and stop half way and then finish it the next day. I never start over I just draw over something if I don’t like the way it looks.

How the heck do you keep up with all your digital sites: Actually, I spent a lot of time learning about online marketing and it actually all links together. Plus the key is having a smart phone. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the posts and such on Facebook if I didn’t have my DRIODX.

What’s Your Motivation: I started drawing again after the birth of my son. There were many sleepless nights so drawing was my way to stay sane during that period. Then it turned into “my time” to get away from the daily routine. Now it’s just to relax and to unravel from the day’s events.

Favorite Sharpie: Hands down the Original Fine Point Black! The point on this pen can do super tiny detail to big areas all in one drawing.

Your work was just featured in a few galleries. How cool was that?: I just started putting my stuff out there is March of this year and it’s amazing how quickly it was received by the Facebook art community. It was so cool to see people request my work to be featured! Every time I get a feature it just makes me want to do better and create something even more amazing.

Where is your career heading: Well currently I am working on a lot of commission requests and getting my work ready to show in Fort Collins, Colorado and Wenatchee, Wash. I am also planning on launching some new products with my designs in the fall/winter.

If there was one place your art could take you, where would it be: I think it would be really fun to own my own product line with my designs that businesses could use on their products (for example surf, skate, snow shops) as well as on like t-shirts, skateboards, shoes, really anything you could put a design on.

Want to learn more about Nicole? You can find her on Twitter and Facebook or contact her via e-mail at nicole.bishopp@gmail.com.